Trending

Next Big Thing – virtual reality contact lenses

Surrounding yourself with imaginary friends could soon be a reality, thanks to the wonders of ocular science

08 February 2012/11:57GMT

Is it Halloween already?

These aren't your cheap snake eye lenses designed to scare away little kids. These contact lenses developed by Innovega contain full colour megapixel displays which can project a virtual 3D world over your eyes, or supplement your existing surroundings with augmented reality.

And what's the point exactly?

Imagine having navigation arrows overlaid on pavements, or virtual monsters in your living room for gaming – all without taking hallucinogens. Better still, you could watch movies on the train, giggling away at your own private screening like a crazy person.

I'm too squeamish to stick things in my delicate eyes though…

That's okay, future versions could be directly embedded in your eyes in a (hopefully) pain-free process. In the meantime, we can expect a commercial launch sometime in 2014 – plenty of time to start saving those pennies.